Handle-mounted control system for a broadcast spreader

ABSTRACT

A control apparatus for a broadcast spreader includes a gate adjustment dial mounted on, and generally coaxial with, a handle portion of a handle assembly of the spreader. Rotation of the gate adjustment dial in a first direction causes an increase in a current maximum discharge rate of the spreader and rotation of the gate adjustment dial in a second direction causes a decrease in the current maximum discharge rate of the spreader.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION

This application is a continuation of U.S. application Ser. No.15/591,879, entitled “Handle Mounted Control System for a BroadcastSpreader,” filed May 10, 2017, and currently pending, which in turnclaims priority to U.S. provisional application No. 62/435,005, entitled“Broadcast Spreader” filed Dec. 15, 2016, both of which applications areincorporated by reference herein.

BACKGROUND

Conventional broadcast spreaders and their associated control mechanismsdo not provide a convenient mechanism for adjusting the aperture of thespreader gate. Most often, broadcast spreaders include an adjustmentdial that is located at or near the spreader's hopper. This isinconvenient, because the user must reach past the spreader handle toadjust the gate's aperture, and that often involves ceasing pushing ofthe spreader, which in turn ceases the disbursement of the material inthe hopper. It is therefore difficult for the user to gauge the amountof adjustment that is appropriate without resuming pushing the spreader,observing the amount of disbursement and then potentially repeating thatsame cycle one or more times. Other conventional broadcast spreaders mayinclude an adjustment dial closer to the handle, but such dials stillrequire the user to remove at least one hand from the handlebar(s) ofthe spreader, which may also require the user to again cease pushing thespreader.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The accompanying drawings, which are incorporated in and form a part ofthis specification, illustrate embodiments of the invention and,together with the description, serve to explain the principles ofembodiments of the invention:

FIG. 1 is a first perspective view of a broadcast spreader, inaccordance with various embodiments of the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a second perspective view of a broadcast spreader, inaccordance with various embodiments of the present invention;

FIG. 3 is a first cross-sectional view of a portion of a broadcastspreader, in accordance with various embodiments of the presentinvention;

FIG. 4 is a perspective view of a covered control panel for a broadcastspreader, in accordance with various embodiments of the presentinvention;

FIG. 5 is an elevated view of a covered control panel for a broadcastspreader, in accordance with various embodiments of the presentinvention;

FIG. 6 is an elevated view of an uncovered control panel for a broadcastspreader, in accordance with various embodiments of the presentinvention;

FIG. 7 is an elevated view of an uncovered control panel for a broadcastspreader with the gate lever removed, in accordance with variousembodiments of the present invention;

FIG. 8 is a side view of a portion of a control assembly for a broadcastspreader, in accordance with various embodiments of the presentinvention;

FIG. 9 is a cross-sectional view of a portion of a control assembly fora broadcast spreader, in accordance with various embodiments of thepresent invention;

FIG. 10 is a perspective view of a gate aperture control mechanism for abroadcast spreader, in accordance with various embodiments of thepresent invention;

FIG. 11 is a perspective view of a cam for a gate aperture controlmechanism for a broadcast spreader, in accordance with variousembodiments of the present invention;

FIG. 12 is a second cross-sectional view of a portion of a broadcastspreader, in accordance with various embodiments of the presentinvention; and

FIG. 13 shows a portion of a deflector height mechanism of a broadcastspreader, in accordance with various embodiments of the presentinvention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Reference will now be made in detail to the preferred embodiments of theinvention, examples of which are illustrated in the accompanyingdrawings. While the invention will be described in conjunction with thepreferred embodiments, it will be understood that they are not intendedto limit the invention to these embodiments. On the contrary, theinvention is intended to cover alternatives, modifications andequivalents, which may be included within the spirit and scope of theinvention as defined by the claims. Furthermore, in the detaileddescription of the present invention, numerous specific details are setforth in order to provide a thorough understanding of the presentinvention. However, it will be obvious to one of ordinary skill in theart that the present invention may be practiced without these specificdetails. In other instances, well known methods, procedures, components,and circuits have not been described in detail as not to unnecessarilyobscure aspects of the present invention.

Generally speaking, various embodiments provide for a broadcast spreaderwith an improved control mechanism that permits the user to makeadjustments “on-the-fly” and, in some cases, without the user having tocompletely remove either of her hands from the spreader handlebar. Insome cases, this is achieved by positioning a gate adjustment dialcoaxially with the handlebar so that the user may adjust the maximumgate aperture with a simple forward or backward rotation of the hand.

FIGS. 1 and 2 illustrate front and rear perspective views, respectively,of a broadcast spreader 10, in accordance with various embodiments ofthe present invention. As shown, broadcast spreader 10 may include abase portion on which one or more wheels 14 and a material spreader 20are mounted. The base portion may also include a transmission 15 fortranslating the rolling motion of the wheels 14 into a rotation of thematerial spreader 20. Spreader 10 also includes a hopper 12 forretaining the material to be spread, a deflector 16 for adjusting thespread angle, a stand 18 and a handle assembly 100. The hopper 12 mayinclude a gate 22 for selectively covering an aperture 13 (shown in FIG.3) of the hopper 12. FIG. 3 shows a side cross-sectional view of thehopper 12 and gate 22, with other parts removed, in accordance withvarious embodiments of the present invention. The handle assembly 100includes a connecting portion 105 having an end connected to the base, ahandle portion coupled with the other end of the connecting portion 105and comprising one or more handles 110, a control assembly 150, one ormore optionally rigid linkages 120 coupling the control assembly 100with the gate 22, and a cable 130 coupling the control assembly 100 withthe deflector 16. As shown, the handle portion, including handles 110,is generally perpendicular to the connecting portion 105 and the ground.

FIGS. 4 and 5 show perspective and elevational views, respectively, of acontrol assembly 150, in accordance with various embodiments of thepresent invention. The control assembly 150 includes a gate actuationlever 156. During use, pulling the gate actuation lever 156 causes thegate 22 to open a certain amount. The control assembly 150 also includesa gate adjustment dial 152 for adjusting the maximum amount by which thegate 22 may be opened when the gate actuation lever 156 is pulled. Thegate adjustment dial is mounted on, and generally axially aligned with,one of the handles 110, such that a user may adjust the gate adjustmentdial 152 without completely removing her hand from the correspondinghandle 110. In some embodiments, rotating gate adjustment dial 152 inone direction increases the maximum amount by which the gate 22 can beopened, and rotating gate adjustment dial 152 in the other directiondecreases the maximum amount by which the gate 22 can be opened. Thecontrol assembly 150 may also include an indicator 162 rotatably coupledwith the gate adjustment dial 152 for indicating, e.g., through anumeric scale, the current setting of the gate adjustment dial 152. Thecontrol assembly 150 may also include a deflector adjustment lever 154for raising and lowering the deflector 16. In some embodiments, when thedeflector adjustment lever 154 is pushed forward, the deflector 16rises, and when the deflector adjustment lever 154 is pulled back, thedeflector 16 lowers.

FIG. 6 illustrates the control assembly 150 of FIGS. 4 and 5, with theouter housing removed so as to reveal the inner-workings of controlassembly 150, in accordance with various embodiments of the presentinvention. FIG. 7 further illustrates the control assembly of FIG. 6,with the gate actuation lever 156 removed, and FIG. 8 is a side view ofthe control assembly 150 of FIG. 7, with the piping of the handleassembly 100 and the cable 130 removed. As shown in FIGS. 6-8, controlassembly 150 includes a traveler 158 that includes an outer shell 153and a limiter 159. Traveler 158 is coupled with gate actuation lever 156via protrusion 157. Actuation of the gate actuation lever 156 causestraveler 158 to move longitudinally along the handle assembly 100.Traveler 158 is also coupled with linkage 120, and thus upward movementof traveler 158 pulls on linkage 120, which in turn causes the gate 22to open. Such upward movement of the traveler 158 continues to cause thegate 22 to be further opened until the limiter 159 abuts the cam surface161 of cam 160 (discussed in more detail below).

In some embodiments, traveler 158 may permit gate actuation lever 156 tobe further drawn back after limiter 159 abuts cam surface 161, butwithout further opening gate 22. FIG. 9 illustrates a portion of thecontrol assembly 150 in which the outer shell 153 and limiter 159 oftraveler 158 have been cross-sectioned, in accordance with variousembodiments of the present invention. As shown, limiter 159 isspring-biased within the outer shell 153 of traveler 158 by spring 180.Spring 180 comprises a sufficient tension such that limiter 159 willgenerally move longitudinally along with the outer shell 153 of thetraveler 159 until the traveler 159 makes contact with cam surface 161.Once limiter 159 does abut cam surface 161, limiter 159 will no longertravel further upward, but the outer shell 153 may continue to travelfurther upward, i.e. through compression of spring 180, therebypermitting gate actuation lever 156 to be fully drawn by the user,irrespective of the position of cam surface 161 relative to limiter 159.

FIG. 10 is a perspective view of a gate adjustment dial 152, a cam 160and related parts, and FIG. 11 is a perspective view of a cam 160, bothin accordance with various embodiments of the present invention. Asshown, gate adjustment dial 152 is coupled with cam 160 via cylinder153. Thus, when viewed from the side shown in FIG. 8, a clockwiserotation of the gate adjustment dial 152 generally causes the thicknessof the cam surface 161 to increase, thereby reducing the maximum amountby which the gate 22 can be opened. Conversely, a counter-clockwiserotation of the gate adjustment dial 152 generally causes the thicknessof the cam surface 161 to decrease, thereby increasing the maximumamount by which the gate 22 can be opened. The control assembly 150 mayalso include an indicator 162 rotatably coupled with the gate adjustmentdial for indicating, e.g., through a numeric scale (not shown), thecurrent setting of the gate adjustment dial 152.

As noted above, control assembly 150 may also include a deflectoradjustment lever 154 for raising and lowering the deflector 16. Thedeflector adjustment lever 154 may be coupled with one end of cable 130,such that pushing the lever forward pulls on cable 130 (see, e.g., FIGS.5 and 6). FIGS. 12 and 13 respectively show side cross-sectional andrear perspective views of a deflector assembly, in accordance withvarious embodiments of the present invention. As shown, the other end ofcable 130 is coupled with a deflector lift member 170 via channel 171and stopper 131. The deflector lift member 170 is coupled with thedeflector 16. Thus, when the deflector adjustment lever 154 is pushedforward, the deflector adjustment lever 154 pulls on cable 130, which inturn pulls upward on the deflector lift member 170, which in turn causesthe deflector 16 to rise. Conversely, when the deflector adjustmentlever 154 is pulled back, the deflector adjustment lever 154 relievestension on cable 130, which, due to gravity and/or a bias from spring173, causes the deflector lift member 170 to lower, which in turn causesthe deflector 16 to lower.

Thus, various embodiments provide for a broadcast spreader with animproved control mechanism. By positioning the gate adjustment dialcoaxially with a handlebar, embodiments allow for convenient, on-the-flyadjustment of gate aperture, without the user having to bend over or tocease pushing the spreader. This enables the user to fine-tunedisbursement rate, whereas the user may be discouraged from doing sowith less convenient configurations and may instead be content tocontinue using a less-than-optimum setting.

The previous description of the disclosed embodiments is provided toenable any person skilled in the art to make or use the presentinvention. Various modifications to these embodiments will be readilyapparent to those skilled in the art, and the generic principles definedherein may be applied to other embodiments without departing from thespirit or scope of the invention. Thus, the present invention is notintended to be limited to the embodiments shown herein but is to beaccorded the widest scope consistent with the principles and novelfeatures disclosed herein.

What is claimed is:
 1. A control apparatus for a broadcast spreader, thebroadcast spreader including a base having a plurality of wheels mountedthereon, the control apparatus-comprising: a handle portion coupled tothe base enabling a user to push the broadcast spreader, the handleportion having a handle axis passing longitudinally therethroughgenerally parallel to a surface upon which the wheels rest; a gateadjustment dial mounted on, and having a rotational axis coaxial with,the handle axis, wherein rotation of the gate adjustment dial in a firstdirection causes an increase in a current maximum discharge rate of thespreader and rotation of the gate adjustment dial in a second directioncauses a decrease in the current maximum discharge rate of the spreader.2. The control apparatus of claim 1, further comprising a connectingportion having a first end coupled with the base and a second endcoupled with the handle portion, the handle portion being generallyperpendicular to the connecting portion.
 3. The control apparatus ofclaim 1 further comprising: a gate actuation lever, wherein operation ofthe gate actuation lever in a first direction causes an increase in adischarge rate of the spreader and operation of the gate actuation leverin a second direction causes a decrease in the discharge rate of thespreader.
 4. The control apparatus of claim 3, wherein the gateadjustment dial controls a maximum amount by which the gate actuationlever may increase the discharge rate of the spreader.
 5. The controlapparatus of claim 3 further comprising a cam, wherein rotation of thegate adjustment dial causes a rotation of the cam, and wherein furtherthe cam controls a maximum amount by which the gate actuation lever mayincrease the discharge rate of the spreader.
 6. The control apparatus ofclaim 5 further comprising: a traveler coupled with the gate actuationlever, wherein operation of the gate actuation lever causes a linearmovement of the traveler, wherein the cam includes a cam surface, andwherein operation of the gate actuation lever in the first directioncauses the discharge rate of the spreader to increase until the travelerabuts the cam surface.
 7. The control apparatus of claim 6, wherein thecam has a cam axis about which the cam rotates and the cam surface has avarying radius relative to the cam axis, wherein further rotation of thegate adjustment dial in the first direction causes the radius todecrease at a point along the cam surface that is in line with adirection of travel of the traveler, and wherein further rotation of thegate adjustment dial in the second direction causes the radius toincrease at the point along the cam surface that is in line with thedirection of travel of the traveler.
 8. The control apparatus of claim 1further comprising a deflector adjustment lever, wherein operation ofthe deflector adjustment lever in a first direction causes a deflectorof the spreader to rise, and operation of the deflector adjustment leverin a second direction causes the deflector to lower.
 9. The controlapparatus of claim 8, wherein the deflector adjustment lever ispositioned on a same side of the handle portion as the gate adjustmentdial relative to an imaginary plane that bisects the handle portionacross the axis.